Gameweek 33 brings with it crucial strategy decisions for all FPL managers. With just 6 gameweeks left and potentially 3 of them including doubles for some teams, there are a lot of options for those who still have wildcard, free-hit, bench boost and triple captain chips. GW34 looks to be the biggest of the 3 and given you can only use 1 chip per week, if you plan to maximise a bench boost or triple captain then wildcarding for 33 may be the best way to set yourself up.
It’s risk-reward given the best team for GW34 is unlikely to be the best team to have through to the end of the season or for the other doubles.The more chips you still have, the more flexibility but with that comes more decisions which could make or break your season!
Below I’ve set up a couple of wildcard drafts for those who want to play it in week 33. 1 is aimed to absolutely maximise the points on offer in double gameweek 34, especially for those bench boosting in 34, but comes with the risk that it may not be the optimal team to carry through after. The other, is a more conservative wildcard with a bigger focus on the future and the transfer plans for 35-38. As with all team selections there are other factors such as team value (in other words the budget you’ll have) to take into account – you may be able to upgrade some of the picks or have to downgrade some in order to keep it affordable.
Wildcard Draft 1 – Full focus on double gameweek 34 and maximising GW34 bench boost:
Goalkeepers
Pickford (Everton) and Neto (Wolves) –
Both are decent goalkeeper picks for the rest of the season and have also scored well so far. They both double in 34 giving 4 fixtures if you are choosing to bench boost. Everton host Nottingham Forest and Liverpool while Wolves also have 2 home games against Arsenal and Bournemouth. Neto has the added bonus of a decent away game in 33 to Nottingham Forest.
Both are mid-range price for goalies but at £9.4m combined, it’s a reasonably high proportion of the budget going towards the goalkeepers, especially with neither having another double gameweek. It could give you a selection headache later and possibly require using a transfer in a later week to downgrade one to release funds.
An alternative would be Wes Foderingham of Sheffield United, at £4.4m, to save some money and still get the double in GW34 – he plays Burnley at home and then Manchester United away in GW34. Neither of which I’d be expecting a clean sheet.
Defenders
Tarkowski (Everton) – just like Pickford, he offers the double but also pretty good fixtures for the rest of the season at a reasonable price of £4.6m. If you want or need to save more cash then Jarrad Branthwaite at £4.3m is a viable alternative.
Gabriel (Arsenal) – the best defence in the league with a double of Wolves and Chelsea. It’s worth having at least 1 Arsenal defender however which 1 (I could suggest several!) is best is tricky. Zinchenko offers good value at £5.0m and more attacking potential but his gametime is far from guaranteed – a bit of a punt but it could really pay off. White, Saliba and Gabriel are all good options depending on budget and personal preference, each with varying underlying attacking potential – Saliba and Gabriel are aerial threats at set pieces while White is more likely to be involved in build up.
Aït-Nouri (Wolves) – currently yellow flagged but generally a good option given his attacking potential. If you’re worried he won’t play then Kilman from Wolves is a good alternative. Home games against Arsenal and Bournemouth don’t scream clean sheet but I expect Wolves to give both teams a challenging fixture.
Ahmedhodžić (Sheffield United) – ok not many people will be jumping on this defence but games at home to relegation rivals Burnley and away to Manchester United could bring out the best in them. They have lots to fight for and at the bargain price of £4.3m Ahmedhodžićcan serve as a bench warmer who has guaranteed minutes for the rest of the season.
Akanji (Manchester City) – Walker and Ake are out so there should be less rotation in the City defence. I can’t mitigate against Pep roulette but I’d anticipate a good amount of gametime for Akanji through to the end of the season and at £5.0m a good price for the expected returns – Luton at home this week gives a high chance of a clean sheet plus good fixtures through to the season’s end. Gvardiol and even Rico Lewis offer cheaper alternatives but rotation is more of a risk for them. If you really want security of minutes then go for Ruben Dias if you can afford him at £5.5m.
Midfield
Saka and Havertz (Arsenal) – these 2 complete my Arsenal triple up with Gabriel in defence. Saka is a must have and Havertz’ form makes him a sensible option and a differential with just 5% ownership. All 3 should be holds for the rest of the season. Trossard is a bargain alternative at £6.5m but his minutes are less assured. Odegaard is another strong option but I can’t see him being a better pick than Saka so you’d need to find the funds to upgrade Havertz instead.
Salah and Luis Diaz (Liverpool) – with Fulham and Everton away in the double and a home fixture with Crystal Palace in 33, they both have high expected attacking returns. Salah hasn’t hit the heights that are expected of him recently but has nonetheless still returned quite consistently. Luis Diaz has been similar in terms of FPL points over the last few weeks. Both pass the eye test with plenty of attacking involvement and potential for more returns than we’ve seen. Both are great options to hold from now until the season finishes.
Eze (Crystal Palace) – another double gameweek player for 34 but perhaps not one on everyone’s shopping list. Eze has good underlying numbers and has been a fairly consistent FPL point scorer but I’d bench him away to Liverpool this week and worth having as part of a bench boosted team for 34 with 2 home fixtures of West Ham and Newcastle.
Forwards
Darwin (Liverpool) – Darwin completes the Liverpool triple up. He’s chaos and hard to watch when you have him in your team because he can seemingly squander a lot of chances but he’s capable of racking up some big points because he gets on the end of a lot of attacking moves. Rotation with Gakpo is a concern but I’d expect Darwin to start most games from now on.
Solanke (Bournemouth) – about midway though the season he was a must have but the goals and points have dried up a bit. I still think he’s worth having for the double but I’d be less sure about holding him beyond that, especially since Bournemouth are safe from relegation so they may take their foot off the gas.
Cunha (Wolves) – another player who earlier in the season was a great differential who scored a couple of massive hauls. His minutes have been built up since coming back from injury and I’d expect good game time over the double and next few weeks. Fixtures aren’t great after GW35 so I’d probably plan to move him on by then.
The elephant in the room…
Image source: goal.com
Haaland doesn’t feature and neither do a few other players who have been mainstays in many of the top teams this year, namely Palmer.
Let’s tackle Palmer first, because it’s easier. You could either have him instead of Eze which gives you his fixture of Everton at home in 33 but know that Chelsea have Arsenal away in 34 and it’s not a double for them. However, you’ve really got to get him back – Chelsea have 2 doubles after 34 and Palmer is their main attacking threat. His price also makes it less challenging to make this happen.
As for Haaland, there’s a lot to consider. He was rested in GW 31 against Villa and played the full match against Real Madrid this Tuesday. It’s possible he gets rested against Luton to be fresh for the second leg of the Madrid game on 18th April, in which case there’s less to worry about not having him in the short term. However, it’s a huge risk to go without Haaland for long – it’ll be hard to see him haul several times in the title run in if you’re unable to get him back into your team. His price tag of £14.3m will make him potentially very challenging to bring back in.
Wildcard Draft 2 – Long-term focus:
Clearly, there are a lot of similarities between the two drafts but some key differences are notable. Firstly, the inclusion of Haaland takes a huge chunk of the budget and if you want to include Salah as well, you’re left with a number of compromises to make. As mentioned before this is team dependant and your team value will play a part in how much compromise you have to make. It’s also worth mentioning that if you hold a player already who you bought for less than their current price then that is their cost to you on wildcard and so could save funds.
In defence Akanji is “downgraded” to Burn to save £0.5m. There’s an argument that it’s no downgrade given Burn is much more nailed on to start however Newcastle have shipped a lot of chances so are less likely to keep clean sheets than Manchester City.
Tarkowski is swapped for the cheaper Branthwaite saving a further £0.3m. Both Everton defenders are secure bets for 90 minutes and rotation is unlikely given how much is on the line in the relegation battle.
Midfield sees some significant changes from Draft 1 with Alexis Mac Allister preferred to Luis Diaz. To be fair, he could return more points given his great form but you’ve got to question how long he can keep up his goal return. Luis Diaz is the safer bet for attacking returns but the cost is £1.7m.
Image source: Livescore
Palmer is preferred to Eze. The long term fixture outlook is better for Chelsea and Palmer has been so consistent compared to Eze. The Chelsea man is a must have right now given his price to points ratio and 2 double gameweeks still to come.
I’ve squeezed in Darwin alongside Haaland up front but it leaves little in the bank and so the bargain striker I’ve picked is Fulham’s Muniz. Muniz has been in great form but it’s possible his purple patch is coming to an end however with some good fixtures and Fulham in fairly decent form he makes sense to include as the enabler.
Conclusion
Any wildcard team this week is dependant on what chips you’ve got left and which ones you plan to use when. For those who want to bench boost in 34 a Liverpool and Arsenal triple up makes sense (in fact it makes sense for most managers even if you’re not wildcarding this week).
There are a couple of issues to navigate though:
One is Haaland – his ownership is so high that if he gets a big score and you don’t have him it’s going to be painful. While going without him in the short term is possibly even ideal given the potential for rotation and how those funds can be used elsewhere, if you do choose this route I would strongly recommend you factor in a plan to get him back.
The other main issue is that some of the double gameweekers are not the best long term picks – Cunha, Solanke and Eze spring to mind. My number one tip would be that if you hit wildcard this week, either include some longer terms picks or make sure you’ve got a decent plan of how to get them in and quickly – there’s limited value is maxing out the double if you then have to take lots of hits or your rivals make back those points over the remaining weeks.
